That professional career took off after she earned several degrees from McGill University (not content to just study, she also took summer jobs, including a stint at the prominent commercial real estate firm Colliers). She then moved to Israel to earn her graduate degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Of course, being Chetrit, that wasn’t enough of an undertaking, so she decided to learn on the job too.

She began an internship in Israel’s parliament while working as a journalist for the leading English-language newspaper in the Middle East and getting through a full graduate course load. Conflict had recently broken out in the region, so many of her stories were about fostering understanding across borders and life during war. “Some of it was written from a pretty naive perspective at the time,” she says.

But Chetrit, as you can imagine, is not one to sit still for long. “When COVID hit, I thought, maybe the rest of the world could stay home, but I had work to do.” That’s how, in the middle of a global pandemic, she became chief of staff for a Canadian health care chain. “Not only were we dealing with the pandemic, but just months before the shutdown, the company I was working for had made a significant amount of acquisitions, going from small to one of the largest, so we had our work cut out for us.”

But she eventually did say “yes.” What convinced her? “To be honest, the recruiter was my babysitter when I was a kid, so I trusted her,” says Chetrit, “at least enough to give it a chance. At first, I didn’t see the fit. Then I looked closer and realized the sector was a blank canvas for community and brand. I discovered more possibilities than I’d ever imagined, and today I’m all in.”

She was quickly tapped to lead a new co-working project which would evolve into the growing ClickSpace brand. Because the pandemic hadn’t yet eased up and brick-and-mortar commercial tenants were going out of business, the idea was to make ClickSpace an e-commerce service hub. “Private offices, work lofts, a podcast studio, rooftop lounge and terrace, storage, integrated third-party logistics (3PL)—everything physical a modern e-commerce business could need. We called it ClickSpace, and it sold out quickly.”

Despite ClickSpace’s early success, Chetrit noticed there was a gap. Over the course of a few years, roughly 60 businesses cycled through the project and only one was woman-owned (actually co-owned). “We were speaking to a very narrow demographic,” she says. “Women are often the decision-makers at home and in small businesses. I recognized the need to broaden our appeal.”

Demand from the series translated into space needs. With Scotiabank’s support, Chetrit led Phase Two of ClickSpace, a workspace designed specifically for female founders including private offices, amenities, and community baked into the plan. It pre-leased before there was even a blueprint and has remained full ever since.

The next big undertaking was creating a female-focused self-storage facility. While working on Montreal Mini-Storage’s latest property at 500 Sauvé Ouest, Chetrit and her colleagues, Andrea LaFrechoux (director of real estate), Serena Miscione (leasing specialist), Alida Wu (senior financial analyst), and Tonia Assaf (construction project manager), looked around the room and realized they were five women in leadership positions. That’s when the aha moment happened, and they decided to design the project to reflect their own needs, and those of their peers. The result is Montreal Mini-Storage’s 24^th facility and the first storage facility of its kind designed by women, for women.

Julie Roy, the Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor, stood in place for the mayor, who was out sick that day, and led the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, recognizing the project’s contribution to inclusive urban development. The program also included remarks by Hayley Newman-Petryshyn, co-director of Monthly Dignity, whose mission is to end period poverty. Her organization is among a handful of non-profits Montreal Mini-Storage welcomed to the facility free of charge.

As part of its dedication to economic empowerment and support for women, Montreal Mini-Storage also offers discounted storage rates priced at 82 cents on the dollar to bring attention to the gender wage gap. While several units have been donated or heavily discounted to female-led businesses and causes, all tenants are welcome at the facility as the property has universal appeal. She believes that when a lot of people think of self-storage, they conjure up some scary place where nefarious goings-on are the norm. “We’re rewriting the storage story from ‘dark and dingy’ to welcoming, safe, and art-forward … and most notably, for everyone.”

Before moving on, Chetrit says she needs to give one very important shout-out to company CEO Simon Berman. “When the five of us ladies came up with this vision, Simon gave us 100 percent carte blanche. Never peeked into the office to know what was going on or questioned a single thing we were doing. Instead, he gave us full autonomy and cheered us on every step of the way.”

She continues, stating that the fact that Berman has placed five women in leadership roles, in the self-storage industry no less, says a lot about the type of man and leader he is.

For Montreal Mini-Storage, the value proposition isn’t about space. “We don’t just sell four walls,” says Chetrit; “we make homes for your milestones and memories.”

And it looks like, after a series of globe-trotting adventures and careers, Chetrit has found a home in self-storage too.

lthough I’ve spoken with Scott Humphreys many times, he still prefaces the conversation with this: “I’m just a small business owner that’s in the trenches every day. I’m not as exciting as the storage company CEOs that you’re often interviewing.”

Humphreys is being humble. As president of Canadian Self Storage Valuation Services and principal partner of its sister company, D.R. Coell & Associates, he definitely deserves a spot here, and as he demonstrated in our “Self-Storage Outlook” last year, he knows the industry inside and out. “Well, maybe this will help the big guys understand where some of the littler guys are coming from,” he says.

Humphreys recalls being in a finance class when the markets were crashing during the 2008 financial crisis, and Bear Sterns, facing major liquidity hurdles, went out of business. “The whole class was looking at their phones, watching it happen in real time,” he says. “I remember thinking, ‘This is going to be an exciting graduation career.’”

Once he was armed with credentials, Humphreys was quickly snatched up by Colliers. “It was the No. 1 commercial brokerage at the time, with a valuation department handling all of Canada.”

Within a few years, Humphreys was the director of valuation, leading his own team focused on valuing shopping centers, office buildings, and development land. He spent much of his time assisting developer and investor clients, meeting legal teams, and working with municipal, regional, provincial, and federal governments. “I was doing all types of appraisals, including expropriation and litigation.”

From there, Humphreys focused on growing the business. “I like the appraisal work, but I really love building teams. We had a lot of appraisers retiring, so I began finding new ones. That core team is still in place today, and they’ve all bought their own homes and investment properties, and it’s great knowing I helped play a part in that. We’re like a family now.”

There are two people he brought onboard who had a very unique impact. One was Candace Watson, owner of Canadian Self Storage Valuation Services. “Candace had been the No. 1 storage appraiser and was a big part of the Canadian Self Storage Association. I knew I wanted her on our team.”

Humphreys brokered a deal with her, acquiring her company in 2014. “She came on and trained up my whole staff at D.R. Coell, and I began learning a lot about self-storage. The business was still relatively small, but I could see it had a lot of legs.”

The other was Mishelle Martin, who would eventually become not just his business partner in 2014 but his life partner (the two married in 2020). “Mishelle has an extensive real estate background in appraisal and owns hotels and other types of investment properties with her family, so we just started building our new appraisal team, assembling development sites, and buying up industrial and office buildings that were undervalued.”

“We’ve gotten our asses kicked on real estate, and it’s due to a variety of things,” Humphreys says. “Interest rates obviously are a big one, you have the Bank of Canada, which has assumed that we have had this balanced economy, when in fact it’s not—we don’t even have a budget out yet. So, they’ve kept that rate high, assuming things were good, and they are not.”

Humphreys acknowledges that there has been some easing up on the interest rates, noting a recent rate cut. He also says other financial experts he speaks with expect more cuts in the future, which will ease the pressure on the residential side. Despite that, he feels the pathway to a new home for buyers will remain a challenge, especially because salaries haven’t been keeping up with the cost of real estate.

Additionally, per Humphreys, large construction companies are laying off hundreds of workers and developers aren’t moving forward with many projects as construction and land costs are too high. “The taxes, and development cost charges from the municipalities, as well as the never-ending green building step code additions, are making it impossible for projects to pencil.”

Humphreys then imagines the worst-case scenario for a developer looking at these types of numbers: Another facility moves into the market. What’s going to happen? “The occupancy is going to go down on every facility in the trade area, and your absorption period is going to get extended out longer. Your break-even point’s pushed out to year three or four … That makes it impossible to get a respectable internal rate of return for your investors.”

Although significant supply has been added over the last few years, and some storage facilities are struggling to reach stabilized occupancy, Humphreys wants to make it clear that it’s not all negative. “It’s just the perfect shitstorm,” he says unapologetically. “Occupancies are down, the economy sucks, the residential real estate market’s in the dumps, and a whole lot of supply was added by the COVID boom. But it will turn around. The fundamentals of storage are and will remain strong. It will just take some time.”

Humphreys has helped numerous developers push back by explaining that in some cases, especially in urban centers, self-storage is over 50 percent business use, such as a wine-making facility that needs to store products or a bakery business that needs to store supplies.

“With that stuff out of the way, now they have more room to hire people on the warehouse floor. So, in its own way, self-storage does add more employment to the area.”

Other businesses can be hurt by geographical constraints. “You can’t just create more industrial land. What’s there is there, and if it’s fully occupied, what are you going to do? Well, move the warehouse or trucking facility or whatever into a tertiary or rural market. Now it’s costing them way more in fuel and maintenance back and forth, which doesn’t make sense. The easy fix is to have a nice big storage unit in a storage facility that’s right in town and it solves all the problems. They don’t see that.”

If a developer is getting flak from a municipality, they always have an open door for clients and new businesses that need sales comparables, details on comps, lease comps, land comps, or market intel, Humphreys says. Anything to help them get their project approved. “It’s great when we can present the case that a market is clamoring for self-storage and watch them try to explain why they’re going to deny what their constituents want.”

“I didn’t vote for him, but Carney has been saying the right things—that we’re going to make Canada strong again, break down provincial barriers, and begin a new housing program backed with billions of dollars,” he says, noting that while the new administration is tougher on immigration than the previous one, he expects it’ll pick up again. “Nothing has come to fruition yet, but I’m hoping it will.”

When it comes to Canadian-U.S. relations, Humphreys believes Carney has the responsibility to represent all Canadians and push back against the U.S. and its tariffs to an extent, but also that the U.S. deserves to be able to stand up for itself a little better in these negotiations, especially with a self-proclaimed master negotiator at the helm. “I feel like [Canada] needs to give a little to get a little. That’ll help get the two countries back together. If we don’t, it’s like ‘You think things are bad now? Just wait.’”

Humphreys feels particularly bad for all small and medium-sized businesses. “I mean, they’re just absolutely screwed. Costs are way up. Prices and fees aren’t going anywhere. There’s less cash in people’s pockets, so they’re not moving, and many can work from home these days, so they don’t have to move. How are these businesses going to survive?”

Ultimately, Humphreys hopes that the U.S. and Canada can find a way to work things out better. “Together our countries are a powerhouse, and it feels like we’re at a pivotal point,” he says. “We just have to make this work for both countries.”

Humphreys and Martin were simply business partners for years, but eventually that relationship evolved. “It’s so cliché, but we got together on Valentine’s Day,” he says, remembering the concern they each had about owning companies with employees together and being more than just business partners. “We were like, ‘Isn’t this a little taboo?’”

With that in mind, they spoke to their lawyer, who just chuckled. He told the couple that on paper, the duo was already basically married, with a 50/50 split on everything across the board. “That put us at ease, and so a little while later, we tied the knot, and we now have two beautiful daughters, Cali Rose and Laci June.”

Humphreys thinks for a moment and then smiles. “That would be our greatest accomplishment.”

WOOD: Calgary definitely remains strong, but I’d say Edmonton could tip into pocket oversupply. I think we’ll see new deliveries next year, but any openings in tough markets like Toronto and Vancouver likely started in 2021 to 2022, and have just gotten through Canada’s development cycle, which is often three to five years from day one to delivery. I’d expect lower deliveries in 2027 and 2028 because many are choosing not to start new projects.

KOONIN: Our development pipeline is steady: recent deliveries in Calgary, more coming in Quebec City, Halifax, Montreal—roughly a project a month for the next four months.

WOOD: If you want to develop, financing for storage is available, but rates still aren’t what they were, and construction financing is tougher. And, if you want to sell outside of core markets, pricing may look off due to debt costs and cap-rate expansion. Opportunistic selling isn’t what it used to be. If you’re overpriced, you won’t trade.

BURNAM: When it comes to occupancy, move-ins, and asking rates, everything is tracking below on almost every metric. I’m not sure that’s going to change in the near future. Whether you choose to develop or sell, proceed with caution.

KOONIN: Outside the GTA, there are very few oversupplied markets. The U.S. averages 8 to 10 square feet per capita (20-plus in some cities), while most of Canada is under 3 square feet per capita. So, if you go by U.S. standards, 95 percent of Canada is undersupplied.

WOOD: It’s true that Canada averages far less square feet per capita than the U.S., but you can’t just map U.S. ratios onto Canada. Culture, housing stock, and metro patterns differ. Quebec is more European in storage demand; Montreal has “Moving Day” dynamics and different leasing cycles. In Toronto and Vancouver, headline “oversupply” in micro-pockets is offset by storage deserts elsewhere in the metro. In Vancouver, bridges are borders for demand; people don’t cross the bridge to store their stuff. You need to model trade areas very carefully.

ALLAN: Canada historically didn’t have fully saturated markets; now some do, which impacts move-ins and length of stay. With more options, customers feel confident that they can find space when they need it, so they don’t keep units “just in case” like they used to.

BURNAM: We’re 99 percent acquisitions. We might deliver one or two facilities a year across North America. We underwrite everything and submit offers, but we’re not seeing returns that meet our hurdles in Canada. In fact, we haven’t closed a Canadian deal in about three years.

BERMAN: When you convert or buy, it’s typically cheaper, but unless you gut it, the architect has to work with what they’ve got. It’s like asking an artist to create a masterpiece on an L-shaped canvas. There’s unit mix challenges, layout issues, and so on. That’s why we do it and others don’t; we take on challenges.

BERMAN: I still think self-storage will be looked at skeptically by municipalities because while we can deliver nice properties, we can’t deliver jobs. They get stuck on that and wind up restricting where self-storage can build, funneling us all into specific areas, leading to oversupply. I don’t foresee municipalities softening on self-storage.

SCOTT: People who build and people who buy often see things differently. Since SVI does both, we see it from both angles. Restrictions can help protect existing properties, but they also make it harder to build new ones. Mixed-use projects may be one way to get your foot in the door if the city is pushing back, but in general, it’s just getting more difficult and entitlement friction is growing in several markets.

BERMAN: I agree there will be more consolidation because the market can be challenging for smaller operators. Some just want to get out of the business naturally, and others are feeling squeezed by bigger operators. They’ve got better data, they can use the aggressive discounting model, and they’ve got the money to spend on marketing. It’s like the perfect storm for the independent operator.

WOOD: Roughly two-thirds of Canadian storage is still owned by small operators, and they face the same cost pressures as the larger guys without the big-company toolkits. So, we’re getting more inquiries from mom-and-pop owners considering selling, driven by retirement and economic pressures.

BURNAM: I’d counter that transitional demand—people renting because they’re moving or selling their home—has been healthier in Canada because mortgages aren’t 30-year fixed. Most are five to 10, which creates refinancing opportunities and movement, and therefore more storage demand. In the U.S., many households with 3 percent mortgages aren’t moving.

KOONIN: Even though many mortgages reset over the next couple of years, and there have been some rate cuts, I still think affordability and inflation are going to make it tough for people to move. Targeting commercial tenants may be a good play. We don’t generally do “first-month-free” promos, but we’ll selectively use it to attract them. They rent larger units and stay longer. They may be 10 percent to 20 percent of the tenant count but 30 percent to 40 percent of the square footage.

BURNAM: Exactly; commercial is actually about 20 percent to 30 percent of many of our facility’s rent rolls. It’s the strongest, longest-staying base, and lately it’s been very resilient.

SCOTT: Canada’s borrowing costs are meaningfully lower than the U.S. We just had a 25 percent basis point (bps) interest rate cut at the last Bank of Canada meeting and may see another soon. Lower rates help free cash flow across the board.

EDWARDS: Canadians are pinching pennies right now. Sales have slowed, some buyers are nervous, and developers are cancelling or pausing condo projects. That creates shorter-term volatility and dents sentiment. But we shouldn’t confuse short cycles with structural reality: Canada is still dramatically undersupplied for housing and needs millions of new units over the next decade to close the gap. That mismatch, supply constrained but long-run demand intact, is the reason I’m not worried about storage demand once the cycle turns.

EDWARDS: Property taxes and development charges are absolutely the killers of good projects. Municipalities are often short-sighted, they see self-storage as a “low job density” use, which is ridiculous when you consider the ecosystem it supports: movers, contractors, retailers, and small businesses that rely on storage to operate affordably. The other pressure is entitlement friction. We spend far too much time educating cities on what modern self-storage actually is.

MADSEN: It’s definitely property taxes, which is why in B.C. the CSSA is pushing to remove business enterprise value from assessments. It isn’t fair to be taxed on intangibles like branding, reputation, lease-up momentum, operating systems—things that aren’t part of the real estate itself. That puts storage owners at a disadvantage compared to the neighbor next door. At the federal level, self-storage is still classified as passive business income, which roughly doubles effective tax on net business income. We’ve fought this for years, and while it’s not on Ottawa’s front burner while tariffs dominate, we will keep it alive and move when a window opens.

KOONIN: I agree pricing is becoming more of an issue. Some operators imported U.S. tactics that Canadians dislike: rock-bottom move-ins prices followed by rapid increases. It’s perceived as a bait-and-switch, and Canadian consumers value fairness and transparency; they react poorly to “gotchas.”

WOOD: Exactly; Canadian consumers won’t tolerate the “$100 move-in followed by a $300 increase six months later” playbook. Some operators tried it, and the results haven’t been great. I can say, these tactics may have helped out some independents. When the big chains overdo increases, those mom-and-pops often pick up fleeing customers, even at higher headline prices, because they’re perceived as fairer and more stable.

EDWARDS: At SmartStop, we’re not shy about using introductory rates or rate adjustments; they’re part of a revenue management model that’s been tested and proven across our portfolio. The difference is transparency. Our customers know exactly what they’re signing up for. This approach works because it’s honest, consistent, and rooted in performance data. That said, every operator has their own strategy, and there’s room for different pricing philosophies.

ALLAN: I think the key is discipline. Discounting is one lever among many. We focus on matching price offers to segment and season, and on protecting rate integrity for long-stay customers rather than chasing occupancy at any cost.

BURNAM: In the U.S., some REITs slashed asking rates, but that didn’t really happen here. Even StorageVault, the biggest operator, generally kept asking rents high and focused on maximizing value at move-in rather than the “discounted price plus quick increase” U.S. model. That discipline benefitted the whole Canadian market, including us.

SCOTT: We chose to hold rates, accept lower occupancy, and continue reasonable ECRIs. Our view: NOI and free cash flow trump occupancy optics. We’ve never posted a negative NOI quarter, but many U.S. peers did. Our results suggest our approach has been more resilient.

WOOD: I agree and believe more institutional interest is coming. QuadReal bought Maple Leaf, and Brookfield has reportedly been circling Montreal Mini Storage. Everyone says they want to acquire “100 investment-grade assets” in five years, but there probably aren’t 100 truly investment-grade assets available here. So, that scarcity could push Class-A pricing up. In general, big buyers will look at one-offs when portfolios aren’t available. Prime Storage is buying singles and pairs across Canada. Mini Mall is active in both countries and recently bought a 12-property U.S. bundle; they shifted South partly for higher cap rates.

MADSEN: QuadReal and Brookfield are definitely two big institutional rocks tossed into the pond, and you can feel the ripples. They woke up other institutional players. I’m not seeing those new entrants immediately go on nationwide buying sprees, they are more focused on learning the market, but their presence invites more diligence, better data, and ultimately better banking familiarity with the asset class.

EDWARDS: I agree; the operators who get that balance right will win. Tech is the engine; people are still the driver.

MADSEN: There’s been two big shifts. First, many operators are moving off legacy software to modern systems that integrate with other tools. Second, AI is now being used for routine tasks like answering calls, collections, and so on. It’s also changing pricing models by providing rent-increase strategies.

ALLAN: Plus, as more customers use AI to “pick a storage facility,” results will be more zero-sum. You don’t get 10 blue links; you get one answer. You can’t buy your way to the top if your product is bad. Basic hygiene suddenly matters—answering phones, posting real rates and accurate unit information, offering visuals or virtual walkthroughs. This benefits capable small operators too because quality signals are machine-readable.

WOOD: Policy uncertainty definitely causes conservatism in procurement and budgeting. Developers are trying to source Canadian components or tariff-exempt materials where possible.

MADSEN: That’s the one unexpected positive: The pressure is nudging Ottawa toward pragmatic resource and export policy. There’s more urgency to move metals and materials and to diversify exports, which could support broader economic health.

SCOTT: The constantly moving target does make planning hard, but I believe when it comes to tariffs, they will create winners and losers by city and sector. Automotive-focused regions like Windsor and Oshawa could see pressure, and some areas in Quebec and Ontario that deal in aluminum may be impacted. And while layoffs can give storage a short-term bump, they aren’t healthy long term. That said, some production will likely near-shore to Canada, which helps certain markets.

s we turn the corner into the final stretch of 2025, I am pleased to provide an update on the Canadian Self Storage Association’s (CSSA) recent activity. The past few months have been full of meaningful conversations, industry insights, and opportunities to gather as a community.

The Canadian Reception on Tuesday evening drew a strong turnout, followed by the Canadian Storage Leaders Panel on Thursday morning. Both sessions highlighted the energy and strength of our community. Conversations were candid, insightful, and underscored how Canadian operators are adapting to today’s challenges.

Panelists discussed the regional economic shifts affecting our industry. Notably:

• British Columbia, Ontario, and the Atlantic provinces are facing supply-demand imbalances and increased discounting.
• Alberta and Quebec continue to show relative resilience, though operators in every region expressed caution.
• Political uncertainty and tariff trade disputes remain a concern for the broader Canadian economy.

It became clear that the self-storage landscape has changed significantly since 2022 and 2023, and our operators are navigating new realities with creativity and determination.

I was pleased to present a two-part State of the Industry Update that explored:

• Regional performance trends in Canada compared to the U.S. market.
• The fast-changing role of technology and AI in our sector, including both challenges and opportunities.

The conversations in Alberta reinforced what we heard in Las Vegas: Our industry is at an inflection point, and it’s more important than ever to stay connected and informed.

The CSSA is closely monitoring this case. We will continue to provide updates to members as more information becomes available, recognizing the potential implications for advertising practices across the country.

The CSSA is excited to announce its upcoming Ontario self-storage workshops, conference, trade show, and facility tours, taking place Nov. 18 to 21 in Toronto. This special gathering will mark the 20^th anniversary of the CSSA, and we are thrilled to celebrate this milestone with our members.

Highlights include:

• Manager’s Certification Course (Tuesday and Wednesday)
• Conference and Trade Show (Thursday, featuring key industry topics and the current state of industry dddress)
• Facility Tours (Friday, showcasing three fantastic facilities)
• All Dressed in White Party and Dinner (Thursday evening, where we’ll celebrate 20 great years together. Any outfit with white will help kick off the celebration!)

For more information and to register, please visit www.cssa.ca.

CSSA is proud to have formed four great and strategic volunteer committees. These committees will help the association make progress in four key areas. These committees are the Data Committee; Membership Committee; Website, Marketing, and PR Committee; and the Scholarship Committee.

We are fortunate to have volunteers who have joined each committee and we welcome a few more great volunteers. If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out to robert@selfstorage.ca.

Thank you to everyone who participated in these events, asked hard questions, and contributed to the dialogue. Together, we continue to strengthen the Canadian self-storage community.

alk-ins have always driven the bulk of self-storage rentals. That’s why operators have spent so much time and money on signage, branding, staff training, and in-person experience. The goal was to make customers comfortable to sign up on the spot when they walked in.

Heading into 2026, it’s time to start thinking of your self-storage website as the new front door, because what customers experience renting or reserving online determines whether they ever end up walking through the physical one.

Too often, operators treat the online rental process as a technical checkbox, but it’s really the most critical moment in your customers’ digital journey. A slow, confusing, or disconnected online experience doesn’t just cost a lead, it erodes trust before the customer ever steps foot on your property.

When a renter decides they need storage, the clock is ticking. They’re ready to act now. Every extra step, like redirects to third-party forms, missing pricing, or slow load times, creates friction that might cause them to give up.

Facilities with seamless, embedded rental flows consistently outperform those that send renters off site or require manual follow-ups. Reducing friction isn’t a technical upgrade, it’s an occupancy strategy. You’re not just competing to be the best online rental experience in the industry, you’re actually competing against expectations set and carried over from other industries who’ve fine-tuned and tested what works best for making online experiences world-class and simple.

Transparent pricing, real-time availability, and a fast, branded checkout say more about your operation than a phone call ever could. A renter who can complete their lease without leaving your website or talking to a human feels confident they’re dealing with professionals. Dominos is not the best pizza out there, but they are the easiest way to get pizza!

A well-built online rental flow doesn’t just help renters, it helps your team. It reduces phone time, minimizes data entry, and delivers valuable analytics on where users drop off or convert—not to mention, better return on marketing and advertising spend. Converting just one or two more move-ins per month can be the difference between ad dollars wasted and ad dollars returning fivefold.

The operators leading the industry aren’t just creating visually appealing websites; they’re mastering the digital move-in experience from start to finish. It’s not a convenience anymore—it’s the foundation of modern storage operations.

Your website is no longer just a brochure. It’s your leasing office, sales team, and first impression all rolled into one. Just like you would for the in-person experience, make sure you’re auditing and “secret shopping” your online rental flows. How many clicks does it take? What is slow? How is it on mobile? How can you make it clearer?

Make your online rental experience seamless, secure, and unmistakably yours—because for tomorrow’s customer, renting online is the new front door.